FastRI is an alternative to the "ri" tool, used to browse RDoc/RI Ruby API documentation.
As of 0.3.0, FastRI can operate in standalone mode (without using a DRb
server, see below), so it can now fully replace ri for most intents and
purposes.

Why prefer it over ri? FastRI

actually works

is much faster than ri

can perform fast full-text searching over all your ri documentation

is smarter than ri, and can find classes anywhere in the hierarchy without specifying the "full path"

can be told to use different search strategies (completion, nested namespaces, etc.)

supports RubyGems much better than ri, and knows which gem a method/class came from

can serve RI documentation over DRb

User-visible changes since version 0.2.1 (2006-11-23)

get all the information about a class/module and its methods with --extended

new search methods: complete namespace (-Om), partial completion on both namespace and method name (-Of), and case-indep. variants.

Getting it

(if you get an old version/a 404 error, please allow some time after the
release until the package propagates to the RubyForge mirrors). Please read
below for an important note regarding the RubyGems packages.